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[fastTOE]

I have a couple questions actually.

First of all,...
1) how does the dual processing work? (i.e. the powermac G5 dual 2ghz)
2) is it just as fast as a 2ghz or is it as fast as a 4ghz
3)does it process the same thing twice or do two different processes?

Secondly...
1)can it be done on a pc?
2)if so, how?

[DermicSavage]

QUOTE (fastTOE @ Mar 4 2004, 12:42 PM)

1) how does the dual processing work? (i.e. the powermac G5 dual 2ghz) 2) is it just as fast as a 2ghz or is it as fast as a 4ghz 3)does it process the same thing twice or do two different processes?

1) no idea hwo macs work with the dual processing.
2 & 3) I know windows XP/2000 supports multi proccessing, so you can have two threads proccessing on each proccessor.  I also belive(dont quote me on this) that XP/2000 will share a single thread across both proccessors, pretty much making two 2 ghz proccessor the equivalent of a 4 ghz machine

windows 98/ME does not support multi proccessor enviroments

and in order to do it, you have to go find a motherbopard that supports dual processors, pretty easy to fidn them, but they may costs a lot as dual proccessor motherboards are normally meant for servers, and since they are meant for servers, but there are some that are more or less for cheeseball users

[EvilWays]

First
1) Either load-balanced or user set to use a CPU. It's possible to assign an app to use a CPU in a multi-CPU environment (thru the task manager).
2) It won't double your speed.
3) It'll either load-balance the entire system, or use some clock time from the second CPU to complete a task. I think photoshop can do this, but I might be wrong.

Second
1 & 2) Yes, but you need a mobo to support two CPUs. These are only used in server or heavy-duty workstations that do CAD or other CPU intensive tasks. You'd also need a multi-CPU capable OS (Win2k on, Linux) to support more than one CPU.

Overall, you wouldn't see a performance difference unless an app took advantage of two CPUs or you assigned some tasks manually to the second CPU. An example would be: OS and some apps on CPU0 (the first one) and a video editing program assigned to CPU1 (the second one) (I might have the numbering wrong, but I'm assuming that Windows calls the first CPU CPU0). TechTV showed how you could run two CS servers off a dual CPU system by assigning each server to each CPU.

[fastTOE]

i see,... are these mobo's hard to find?  would my local fry's have them, or would i have to go to a specialty store....

btw, the main reason id want it is for video editing, so i think that i could take advantage of the dual processing....  the program that id like to use is called Avid and is also used on the dual processed macs, so im sure it should take advantage of the dual processors on a pc... but this is down the road,.... need the money first

thanks for the help tho